Risk management

Enterprise Risk Management is an integral part of doing business at Chr. Hansen. It supports the achievement of the Natures no. 1 strategy objectives, while managing risks appropriately. Read about how we work with enterprise risk as a concept and how this is integrated into Chr. Hansen’s business processes.

Enterprise risk management at Chr. Hansen is a structured, consistent and continuous approach to managing risk exposure and covers all types of risk across the organization.
Enterprise risk management is not about avoiding risk but taking the calculated risks on an informed basis that are related to our core competencies in order to create value. Hence, enterprise risk management is about risk awareness and adequate mitigation – not risk aversion

Enterprise risk governance and process

In 2017/18, Chr. Hansen adopted an enterprise risk management position stipulating how the Company works with enterprise risk as a concept and how this is integrated into Chr. Hansen’s business processes.
• Relevant risks are identified, monitored and reported to the Executive Board and the Board of Directors as per the enterprise risk governance structure. The governance structure clearly stipulates roles and responsibilities within the organization, and the risk reporting cycle.
• Identified risks are presented to and discussed by Management several times during the year to identify risks as early as possible and enable management to take a proactive approach to adapting business processes and controls to meet, manage or mitigate such risks, or to prevent any increase in the current level of exposure.
• Identified risks are evaluated on the basis of their potential impact on a number of criteria, including safety, business, reputational and financial impact, and the likelihood of the risk materializing.
• Clear roles and responsibilities are assigned in relation to major risks, and mitigation initiatives are identified, prioritized and launched.

Risk categories

The most significant risks identified and reported to the Board of Directors are listed and divided into the following five categories (list not exhaustive):

Product

Risk of production breakdown due to contamination or breakdown of production equipment, fire, terrorism or natural disaster

Dependency on IT systems and infrastructure & cyber attacks

Product retrievals related to food safety

Technology

Human capital risks

Intellectual property risk

Customers and partners

Dependency on individual customers

Reliance on partners in key areas where Chr. Hansen does not possess required key competencies